The pandemic does not make all businesses suspended.There are several fields of business that actually get a blessing because of it.Among other things, the frozen processed food industry is even more lively during the Covid-19 pandemic.Large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) create a new habit in the community to cook nuggets, processed meat, and other frozen foods.Ardena Food, a frozen processed food brand produced by PT Ardena Artha Mulia, is among those that have shown convincing performance.Founded in 2013, this company was originally a cottage industry with the label Maulana Food.In mid-2014, along with the arrival of a new partner, Maulana Food changed its brand to Ardena Food."The name 'Ardena' comes from the ancient Celtic language which means excited," said Ariguna Napitupulu, President Director of PT Ardena Artha Mulia.As for 'Artha' means prosperity."The name 'Ardena Artha Mulia' means the spirit of working for prosperity without compromising noble and noble values," Ariguna explained.Ardena Artha Mulia has a vision to become a company that provides the best quality processed food in Indonesia so that it is known and used internationally.Its mission is to provide processed food that is healthy, delicious, nutritious, and of high quality at competitive prices so that it can be enjoyed and benefited all Indonesian people.According to Ariguna, Ardena Food is not suddenly big.Together with his partners, Munawir and Ade, he started small with a production of around 30 kg per day.After running and getting a positive response from the market, they decided to expand their business by injecting capital."Now we can produce 4 tons per day," he said.He explained that the process of scaling up from 30-40 kg to 4 tons per day is also not as easy as turning your hand.At first what he did was to prepare a special person for sales (salesmen).After collecting the demand (buyer), then the amount of production is increased because the market is getting bigger."Currently we are working on modern markets, traditional markets, resellers, and online markets (e-commerce)," said Ariguna.It does not yet have a single distributor, it is still participating with existing frozen food distributors.Since starting to produce 1 ton per day, Ardena Food decided to use machines.Even though it is still a simple machine with a conveyor system, according to Ariguna, it is sufficient.Then, his party started using a fast freezing machine."So, the freezing process only takes four hours, the meat is completely frozen," said Ariguna.He also invested in ERP."We implement this for all of our end-to-end operations," he said.Now he is preparing to migrate to a more advanced one.This former IT Manager of Bank Danamon and Bank Maybank admitted, now is the right moment to develop yourself.After having 19 variants including, nuggets, fish rolls, mushroom fish tofu, fish ball, and shrimp & chicken siomay― in April 2021, his party developed a second brand, Kintabe.Ardena Food is devoted to processed fish, while Kintabe is made from chicken with Japanese style.The business model he developed includes the supply of raw materials, production, to distribution.The target market is three groups.First, the housewife, the decision maker about the food that will be consumed by her family.Second, young professionals, namely those who are busy with their daily work and fast-paced lifestyles that require delicious, easy-to-prepare, and trendy food.Third, food traders (foodpreneur)."Currently Ardena Food is available in Java and Banten," said Ariguna, adding that by the end of 2020, it had produced 922.99 tons of products with a revenue of IDR 40 billion a year.In the midst of frozen food players in Indonesia, which are increasing and even classified as giant scale, Ariguna realizes the importance of making differentiation.So, Ardena Food also focuses on processed fish, while the giants generally focus on processed poultry or chicken products.With a focus on processed seafood, he believes that producing healthy, delicious, nutritious, easy-to-serve, and high-quality food at affordable prices can provide added value for all families in Indonesia.“Our products are suitable for all walks of life and ages, from small to adult.For this reason, we always use high-quality raw materials, have a skilled and experienced team, equipped with high-tech facilities, as well as good standards and procedures," said Ariguna."We are committed to producing the best quality and high-tasting food products for public consumption," the member of the Committee for Food Technology and Industry-Kadin DKI Jakarta since 2019 emphasized.To maintain the consistency of production quality, Ardena Food has obtained official permission from BPOM and halal certification.It does not stop there, currently Ardena Food is also in the process of HACCP certification."We are also on contract for ISO 9001. So, hopefully, if the process goes smoothly, this year we will get HACCP and ISO 9001 to maintain our quality," Ariguna hoped.Now he is preparing a fleet of refrigerated trucks (cold chain).“We lend certain agents a freezer, so that product quality is maintained.Because large-scale freezers are different from those on the market,” he said.(*)Dyah Hasto Palupi/Arie LiliyahYou must be logged in to post a comment.Get the most out of SWA by signing in to your accountOr select your favorite social network to get started